Summer time means ice cream time but with the big financial collapse going on it’s also time to pinch pennies. Ice cream lovers on a budget might consider looking into an ice cream machine. But, in a nutshell, how does an ice cream maker work?

Although sometimes called ice cream makers, ice cream freezers or ice cream machines, they’re all the same thing and the all do the same job, whip air into an ice cream mix that’s being held at the freezing point. The whipping action also prevent ice crystals from forming.

Because of the many different types, choosing an ice cream freezer can be difficult so here’s some help with the different kinds.

Not only simple but also the oldest, the first kind of ice cream machines are hand cranked. Usually, they have a wooden outer bucket and an inner chamber. The inner chamber gets filled with ice cream mix and the outer bucket gets filled with rock salt and ice. Add a little sweat equity via the hand crank and enjoy.

Although spending 20 or 30 minutes working up a sweat to enjoy ice cream may not seem ideal, people who really love ice cream swear by their hand powered machine. For those with tighter time constraints, electrical motors are available to handle the task. Started in the late 1800’s, the White Mountain Freezer Company is the longest producing maker of these kinds of ice cream makers.

The next style is commonly referred to as the canister-style ice cream maker. Basically a freezable bowl is used instead of ice and rock salt. The canister needs to be frozen for about 24 hours before it can be used. I just leave mine in the freezer all the time.

While you can say goodbye to the mess of rock salt and ice of the first kind of machine, make sure your ingredients are really well chilled. That is unless you like cream soup over ice cream, which is the number one error people make using a canister machine. Models by Cuisinart, Rival and Krups are all popular.

The last type, called an ice cream freezer, is bigger and more expensive than the two other types of ice cream machines, but if you make lots of homemade ice cream, it may be worth the expense. Again these work using the same idea as the hand powered models but again these differ in how the ice cream mix is chilled. Basically it’s an ice cream freezer that has a built-in fridge that does takes care of chilling your ice cream mixture.

If you’re ready to plop down the dough for a compressor style machine, look for a removable mixing bowl which will help when it’s time to clean up. Sadly, not all units come with one.

Besides being affordable and fun, an ice cream maker lets you control the ingredients of the ice cream. And making homemade ice cream can bring the whole family together, at least it did in my house growing up. Still today, I have many wonderful memories of cutting up Snickers bars and watching my grandma make us homemade ice cream.

If you love home made ice cream as much as I do, check out my web site about ice cream freezers. There’s tricks and tips about getting the most out of your ice cream machine.